


You Make Me Like Pink

by OneBoxBrainedKitten



Series: The Guildra Hotel (Natsu X Lucy) [2]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: And nobody can convince me otherwise, F/M, Fluff, Gajeel and Levy's kids, Gray does not, Hotel, Lucy based her characters off her friends, Nalu - Freeform, Natsu and Lucy like pink, Pre-Relationship, Rated teen for the teeny tiniest hint of horny, Realizations, Romance, The Adventure of Iris, The Guildra Hotel, it's hilarious, they're adorable
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29596758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneBoxBrainedKitten/pseuds/OneBoxBrainedKitten
Summary: “Yeah, goodnight.” Lucy said, scurrying into her room.Natsu turned around trying to cool the fire on his face and went into his room also.There was a silence over the rest of their friends as a realisation slooowly dawned on them. It was Hamito who broke the silence.“Hwabawa.” He gurgled. It almost sounded like a question.“My thoughts exactly.” Levy answered her son.Or: The gang returns to The Guildra Hotel and some things have changed... Will they be able to stay in the right beds this time?... Who knows?
Relationships: Gray Fullbuster/Juvia Lockser, Levy McGarden/Gajeel Redfox, Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia
Series: The Guildra Hotel (Natsu X Lucy) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2173896
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	1. Here We Go Again

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't read Musical Beds yet you should. It's the first part of this series and You Make Me Like Pink will make more sense if you do.

The sun shone down onto the earth as if it were smiling. The clouds were barely wisps in the sky and it was very hot. Almost to the point of being intolerable, but with enough free skin and a drink close by the sweat and drowsiness could be forgotten about. The braver members of the human race were flitting about the streets, most holding a cold snack and struggling to eat it all before it dribbled down their fingers. Meanwhile the farer skinned stayed indoors and lazed, reading, doing chores, whatever to fill the time. This was not the case for Fairy Tail though. Inside the guild it was surprisingly cool, only because Gray had been circling the building leaving chunks of ice everywhere. Juvia had been doing the same, collecting up the water it melted into to prevent the guild hall growing mold. After all it was a special occasion, so he didn’t mind using tedious amounts of magic and she didn’t mind traipsing in endless circles. It was someone’s birthday, two someone’s actually. The Redfox twins officially turned two years old. Mira had baked them a cake each, though they were both served on the same plate. The little ones had blown out the candles hours ago, and the party was beginning to die down. The gifts hadn’t been given all at once, with the reasoning of not wanting to rile either of them up too much. Their magic was just beginning to manifest, and it was a little unpredictable. The issue came with the story of how Gajeel almost cut his own finger off by accident when he was still getting the hang of his magic. He told the story bitterly as Metalicana apparently laughed at him at the time. He didn’t want to risk an injury with the twins, so a rather tight leash was kept on their magic use. This meant keeping them as calm as possible, however, it was their birthday, and toddlers don’t exactly do the whole ‘calm’ thing very well to begin with.

Right now the little girl, Gichi, was being bounced on a shockingly sober Cana’s lap. And the little boy, Hamito, was having a very engaging one-sided conversation with Erza. It mainly consisted of her gushing praise and him laughing along. She’d even unclipped all her armour and discarded it over the bar just to hold him, impressive, given what it means to her. Levy was half asleep, spread eagle over a table wearing only a tank top and shorts, she used to be better with heat than most but since giving birth any temperature other than room temperature became torture for her. The affect was slowly lessening but it was still a reminder of how scary having kids is and just how thoroughly it can screw you up. Gajeel was a ways away having had his fill of people for the day. Instead he opted to watch his children like a hawk in case anything went wrong. Though they were in relatively safe hands you could never be too careful. Pantherlily was doing the same. He’d practically become a bodyguard, big brother, and babysitter for the two completely of his own volition.

Footsteps from behind made Levy look up. It was Lucy, followed by Natsu, who looked the same as always, and Happy, who looked like he was dying. Before she could talk a voice came from behind them,  
“Darling!” Juvia hollered to her boyfriend on the other side of the guild. “This one’s melting!” She was stood in front of a rather sad looking pillar of ice while the water around the bottom of it floated up and absorbed into her fingers.  
“Yeah, got it.” He practically groaned. He was bored but wasn’t quite upset. He got to eat a larger slice of cake as a thanks for making sure everyone didn’t boil in their own skin like oysters. As he made his way over Happy did the flying equivalent of a mopey drag to intercept him, then made the polite request to be frozen in a ball of ice. By the time Gray had gotten to the melting pillar Happy had rolled to Natsu’s feet looking almost blissful in his little ice sphere. Natsu picked him up with a smile, then started tossing him up and down like a beach ball laughing like an idiot while Happy yelled in complete terror for Lucy to stop him. She only stifled a chuckle with a polite hand over her mouth. Natsu then turned his attention to Levy.  
“Catch” He tossed ice-Happy to Levy who welcomed the relief from the heat with open arms. Hugging the little ball tightly, much to the protest of the cat stuck inside.

Lucy finished her little giggle fit then cleared her throat.  
“Here.” She offered Levy a thick envelope with ‘Happy Birthday’ written in bold coloured ink on the front. The handwriting differed from letter to letter. Neat, then messy, then neat, then messy. Lucy watched her scrutinize it and blushed a little. “Ah, I wanted it to be from both me and Natsu, so I had him write it with me.” She was waving her hands as if her slight embarrassment was a physical thing that could be batted away.  
“Yeah, see all the neat letters, those are mine.” Natsu pressed against Lucy’s back and pointed over her shoulder at the neat pink letters that alternated with the red, messy ones. Lucy gave a gasp of offence.  
“No. Those are mine. I started writing first remember.” She protested.  
“Nah, those are pink like my hair, they’re mine.” He stated with a slight hint of coyness.  
“Ugh! Natsu! Is your memory seriously that bad? Which one of us has written a book huh? Riddle me that!” She teased back. To an outsider it might look like a genuine argument, but Levy knew they were just toying with one another by the infectious smiles plastered on both their faces. While they bickered she opened the envelope.  
“Tickets?” She questioned, the design looked familiar, but she couldn’t place it. Natsu and Lucy stopped their not-argument to smile in sync. They had known one another for so long they were on the exact same wavelength now. They could probably finish each other’s sentences if they tried hard enough.  
“Yeah!” Lucy grinned enthusiastically. “Ten tickets to the Guildra hotel! Me and Natsu saved up for them together, Erza chipped in too.”  
“That’s why I did my letters in red. To match her hair.” Natsu butted in.  
“So you admit the red letters are yours!” Lucy pointed a finger at his perpetually bare chest.  
“I admit nothing.” Natsu turned his head up and crossed his arms dramatically. Still smiling though.

Levy took them out and flicked through them all, they were all identical except for two. The two different ones had green backs instead of blue. And both had ‘CHILD PASS’ printed in gold along the top.  
“The kids have to have different tickets for some reason.” Natsu spoke up.  
“Because the Guildra is designed for adults.” Lucy said it in a way that hinted that she had explained this to him before. She then turned back to Levy. “Not that it isn’t suitable for kids though! Just not many guilds have young children in them, so the staff have to prep in advance for the presence of children, hence they need their own type of pass.”  
“Did they really have to make it cost more though?” Natsu groaned. Lucy sighed, giving up on trying to explain it to him. “Anyway.” She continued, the annoyance slipping from her voice. “You need a minimum of six people to go, and your family is five including Lily, but Erza insisted on chipping in and we could afford ten all together. And we figured it would be a nice gift, since you missed out last time, and the twins get to go.”  
“It was great.” Gray entered the conversation with Juvia around his arm. “We had lots of fun. You should have told me, I’d have helped with the cost.” Juvia nodded in agreement.  
“We tried to keep it a secret, Erza found out by mistake.” Lucy half-heartedly laughed.  
“Who else is invited?” Levy asked, she had a huge smile on her face. She’d also forgotten about Happy who was now slowly rolling off the table.  
“That’s the best part!” Lucy grabbed her empty hand in both of hers. “You can choose whoever you want! Those tickets will expire though so any that don’t get used will become redundant. But it’s fine if you don’t use them all cause they’re yours.”  
“You’re just cosying up to her cause you wanna be picked.” Natsu pointed out. Lucy turned to face him with a half scowl on her face. He was right. She really wanted to go. But she ignored the voice yelling in her head that ‘I paid for it so I should get to go!’ and reminded herself that this was a GIFT. It was Levy’s choice.

Lucy:

Thirty-six hours later, two toddlers, one exceed, and seven adults all stood in a fancy reception room that definitely didn’t exist the last time they were here. Levy ended up picking Erza, Gray, Juvia, Natsu and Lucy. Erza, Natsu and Lucy because they paid for it, and Juvia and Gray because she valued their friendship. However, this left no room for Happy. Originally both Natsu and Happy refused to go without each other, but then Carla offered to take Happy on a five-day fishing trip that she owed him because she lost a bet and had been putting it off. Suddenly Happy was encouraging Natsu to leave as quickly as possible. So that was that. Two train rides later, and here they were.

Quite a few changes had happened since they were last here. First and most obvious of all is that the building was now three stories tall. The top story was not in use yet, but it was there. The second story was practically the same as the first, minus the pool. Instead it had a movie theatre in it’s place. The hotel functioned on a bi-weekly schedule. During the first week all the wizards arrive and stay. Once they leave the place is cleaned back up during the second week ready for the cycle to start again. So the Guildra didn’t run around the wizards schedule, the wizards had to follow the Guildra’s schedule. One part of this schedule was the initial arrival. Nobody could go in until everyone was present from every guild. Until then they were stuck on their colour coded spot in the reception hall. The suites were now called ‘sets’. Previously each set was the same but now they were colour coded. Though apparently other than the colour the sets were still completely identical. The colour under Lucy’s feet was pink. Looking over at the other seven spots, all stood on by various wizards, the colours consisted of red, blue, black, white, yellow, green, and brown. Each one representing one of the eights sets ready for use in the Guildra. The Guildra’s staff had figured out the secret to dealing with such large numbers of rowdy wizards was extreme organisation. Hence the twins needing different tickets because of their age. They also didn’t want anyone to be able to sneak in, hence they had to check everyone in all at once. And if you didn’t have your ticket? Then tough. They were non-refundable to so losing one would be bad news.

Lucy sighed deeply, they weren’t the first to get here but they also weren’t the last. She’d been stood for twenty minutes with Natsu half dead on her shoulders. I say half dead, he was listening grumpily to the whispers darting around the room from the other wizards. From the way he scowled she could tell they were whispering about him. Natsu had quite a reputation, as did the rest of Fairy Tail. Him melting the grand magic games colosseum then setting the royal palace on fire within the span of twenty-four hours made him rather infamous, and any hype that had dyed down around Fairy Tail in the year they were disbanded was immediately whipped back up. She decided to listen in on what they were whispering, it was more entertaining than just waiting.  
“Why’s he like that, you think he’s asleep?”  
“Did you not watch the Grand Magic Games? Dragon slayers get motion sick real bad.”  
“If you know so much then who’s that girl carrying him?”  
“Lucy Heartfelia.”  
“Oh my god! You mean the author of The Adventure of Iris!? I love that book-”  
“Shhhhh! Keep it down.”  
Lucy’s heart lightened a bit. She wasn’t a fan of gossip or talking behind someone’s back, but praise was praise.  
“Didn’t she throw her only match? Not interesting, next-“  
And her heart sunk straight back down. Whoever that was sounded annoyingly cocky. But not for long. A thick and sharp growling sounded right by her ear. It was like a dog’s but deeper. Natsu was making direct eye contact with the bastard and growling like an animal. His cocky voice descended into a shriek of sorts and the others around him froze on the spot. Lucy felt floaty. He just jumped to her defence. Wanting to get a line in she turned to look at them.  
“Oh, and dragon slayers have amazing hearing, just so you know.” She smiled an innocent smile and winked in their direction, chuckling a little. Kill em with kindness. Natsu turned his head back around with a satisfied huff then slowly rocked his bodyweight back onto his own two feet. He was shaky, but not so much he’d fall over.  
“Oh Luce, always the sassy one.” He murmured close to her ear, sounding proud. She only giggled in response. Though she was glad he was stood behind her, as a blush crept up her cheeks.

Natsu:

Though it took forever they were finally in their room, sorry, not their room, their ‘set’. Natsu thought it was a stupid name. Why not room, or suite, or dorm, or base. Nope, set. Boring. He decided there was no way he was gonna use the word ‘set’ while talking about this place. He may as well call it an apartment cause that’s basically what it is now. Of all the places inside the hotel this one had changed the most. Before there was an awkward gap between the sofas and the wall with a giant window in it out of the main area. But now there was a bar with a sink and like eight bar stools. The lamp that he managed to knock over and shatter last time had been replaced and fused to the floor. The cushions he’d burned had a fireproof coating, and inside the bedrooms… the beds were weird. They were on these things Lucy called ‘runners’. Basically you could lift the floor up (cause it was attached with magnets) and wheel the beds closer and further away from one another, then adjust the length of the floor panel you pulled out and put it back in the new gap. The beds also had magnets on the inside so they could be pushed together and would stay together. Making a sweet double bed that you wouldn’t fall down the middle of. Furthermore the end tables had been moved into the corners and were now fused with the floor and both walls. Nobody was knocking them over. Ever. Gray and Natsu’s shenanigans on the first night they were there almost exactly two years ago seemed to have a huge impact on the way the ‘sets’ were now designed. No wonder, seen as how the staff came in early in the morning, saw the mess they made, and spent a good portion of their second day there interviewing them on exactly how they did it and brainstorming how to stop it from happening again. Apparently the beds legs had been magnetized to the floor, so the bed could be moved but it was hard. Funny, Natsu didn’t even notice. This is also what prompted Erza to allow them to keep the switch Natsu and Juvia made, she also apologised for insinuating that something was going on between the two pairs. However she ended up being wrong again as Gray and Juvia were found making out at the bottom of the pool on their last day. Oh well.

The apartment looked nice, but there was a lot of pink. There was no mistaking what dorm this is. It’s the pink one. The beds were pink, the stools were pink, the sofas were pink, the towels were pink. Gray looked like he was about to vomit when he walked in. Meanwhile Natsu looked like he was in heaven. He wasn’t especially fond of the colour or anything, but it was the colour of his hair and it pissed Gray off and that was good enough in his book. Lucy looked kinda starry-eyed. It was clear she liked the colour as it is the one she chose for her guild mark. Quite a few things were pink in her apartment too. Natsu watched her frolic around and heard her gasp as she went in and out of the rooms even though they were all the same. It filled him with a funny feeling. He was happy because she was happy. He liked the colour pink even more now. It was almost dark, so the subject of bed assignments came up. There were ten people, twelve beds and six rooms. Gajeel and Levy and Gray and Juvia were together by default. So that left four rooms. Lily said he’d sleep in a room with the twins so that left three rooms. Erza enjoyed sleeping alone last time and claimed a room the moment she walked in the door so that left two rooms.

Two rooms and two people looking dead at one another trying to tell what the other was thinking. Over the past two years they had been getting closer. Both emotionally and physically. They would spend more time about one another. Him not being in her apartment was weirder than breaking in and making himself completely at home. It had gotten to the point that it was normal for her to go to sleep alone, wake up, see his face asleep next to her, and just make him breakfast without questioning a thing. Touching that was bordering on couple-like had become the norm for them. Him picking her up randomly, her faceplanting into his bare chest when she was tired, even last night at the guild he had pressed completely against her back and had an arm over her shoulder, and she didn’t even think twice. When they hug now her arms naturally slip under his open top instead of over it. Him resting a head or arm on her breast is no longer uncomfortable and just feels natural. She scruffs his hair when she’s satisfied, and he lets her. If he wants to drag her somewhere and she’s in a crop top he’ll just grab a strap and start pulling her along, even if there’s no bra underneath. And speaking of bra, she’s started wearing way less around him lately. She didn’t wear much to begin with. It wasn’t just her either. Natsu would wander around her apartment in his underwear, or a towel. She wouldn’t take her clothes into the bathroom if he was over, she’d just walk into her bedroom in a towel and instruct him not to look. Sometimes she’d sleep in just a low-cut shirt and panties knowing full well he’d probably be there by the end of the night. I mean nobody on earthland wears a bra to bed. But it was still kinda…

Natsu stopped his train of thought there. They had been staring at each other wordless for over a minute. Everyone else was staring. Even the twins were looking at them funny. And they didn’t even know what the word ‘staring’ meant.  
“Helooo?” Gray asked. He sounded shattered. He’d been up most of last night helping Juvia pack. “Earth to idiot #1 and #2, are you reading me?”  
Both Natsu and Lucy realised what they were doing and blushed.  
“I uh,” Lucy stammered, “I’ll just take this room.” She said, pointing behind her.  
“Yeah, go ahead.” Natsu tried to sound normal and not squeak or make a stupid sound. It worked for the most part. He then pointed behind himself also. “And I’ll just, go here. G’night.”  
“Yeah, goodnight.” She said, scurrying into her room and shutting the door. Before coming back out again, grabbing the bag she had left on the sofa with a muttered ‘sorry’ then dipped straight back into her room. Natsu turned around trying to cool the fire on his face and went into his room also.  
There was a silence over the rest of their friends as a realisation slooowly dawned on them. It was Hamito who broke the silence.  
“Hwabawa.” He gurgled. It almost sounded like a question.  
“My thoughts exactly.” Levy answered her son.


	2. Can't Sleep Without Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If her ten-year-old self could see her now she would shriek in dignified horror. Hell if her seventeen-year-old self that had just joined the guild could see her she would scream like a banshee and melt into a puddle on the floor.
> 
> “Please don’t wake us up, stuff happened. We’re tired. Ask questions later.  
> \- Lucy & Natsu.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just kinda projecting myself onto Lucy at this point. I too like to go into the freezing cold ocean, take boiling hot showers that last way longer than they should, and staying up to stupid hours in the morning. And complaining. Like a lot. It's my main life skill.

Natsu:

Darkness settled over the hotel. The waves formally accompanied by cawing of birds and distant chatter leaking through open doors were now left to sing alone. Most people would be under the illusion that it was now silent, Natsu knew better. Lights out was hours ago, after midnight the Guildra’s lights were put on timers, you could only switch them on for three minutes at a time before they would turn off by themselves. So it wasn’t an absolute bedtime, but it was strongly encouraged. Natsu was still awake though. Everyone else was asleep, he could hear their slowed breathing. Gichi had woken up having a tantrum about an hour ago, but Lily put her back to sleep. If he listened really closely, he could hear one guild was having a party in the room above theirs. The dorms had been impressively sound proofed for this exact reason. But he could still hear the faint bumping of music and smell alcohol, and vomit, fun… One rather obnoxious woman was complaining about having to keep turning the lights back on. ‘That’s because you should have called it a night hours ago.’ Natsu silently reckoned. It wasn’t like he could talk though, he hadn’t slept a wink. Usually when he couldn’t sleep, which happened more often than not, he would just put his clothes in a bag, slip his sandals on and run to Lucy’s place. She never locked the window. So he would just come in and cuddle up in her nice warm bed and wonder what was for breakfast tomorrow morning. He couldn’t do that now. It would be weird, right? Besides, he figured out it took him lying close enough to her to touch to alleviate his insomnia, and the single bed might fit two people but only if they were spooning, which he was not gonna do. Though just lying there wasn’t going to solve anything. So he decided to get up and be productive while he was conscious, weather he wanted to be conscious or not.

Lucy:

Lucy awoke with a rare urge, to use the bathroom. Usually she could sleep through the night without issue, but she’d downed more water than usual with the recent heat. The trains on the way here were absolutely packed meaning they were sweltering. She wound up stealing Natsu’s water bottle that he hadn’t touched since they left. Maybe it was because he had fire magic and didn’t feel the heat? Or maybe it was because any water he drank would just come straight back up within seconds. Dragon slayer motion sickness was truly brutal. It was dark all throughout the set. Only star and moonlight came leaking through the many giant windows. It was cold now too, but the floorboards were heated from below, so it wasn’t that bad. Lucy turned on every light she could reach on the way to the bathroom. She wasn’t good when she couldn’t see. On the way back her eyes had adjusted to the light and she noticed something odd. All the doors were shut except one. Natsu’s. She gently padded over wondering if he forgot to close it, but upon looking inside she discovered he was gone. One of the twin beds clearly hadn’t been touched and the other had its duvet thrown back. He’d gotten out of bed and left. After her tired brain milling a little she figured he just went to the bathroom as well. Neither bathroom was specifically gendered, but everyone had just come to a mutual agreement that the left one was for the girls and the right one was for the boys. Satisfied with her answer she left his door open and went back into her room. By now the light had switched itself back off, so she took the opportunity to gaze at the ocean and sky through her window. Her side of the set was the one that faced the ocean. They were still on the first floor as the pink set was the only one left, but Levy hadn’t been on any floor before, so Lucy didn’t mind. She was a little annoyed though, as the second floor got balconies. But they also didn’t get a pool so maybe it was fair trade? You were only allowed onto floors other than your own between ten in the morning and four in the afternoon. To prevent confusion.

As she gazed wistfully out onto the beach something caught her eye. There was a person sat on the sands, alone. It looked like a man, with something tied around his waist, and spiky hair. A thought dawned on her and she turned around and opened her door, looking into the lounge. Natsu’s door was still ajar, and she figured she’d have at least heard footsteps by now if he were in the bathroom. Was he out on the beach? Why? His sandals were still on the floor, along with his top. But his scarf was gone, and he likely never took his baggy trousers off to begin with. Lucy began to feel a spike of worry. She turned back to her window to look again and now the figure was laying down. They were wearing white baggy trousers and were barefoot. That was definitely Natsu.

Without really thinking about it she made her way out of their set and started to navigate her way back through the hotel and out to the beach. On the way she went past the pool and there were a few people swimming lazily. The lights were dim everywhere highlighting tables, statues and faces with the slightest hints of blue and gold. The entire place looked like a painting. It felt more like some sort of temple than a hotel. Reaching the giant, glass sliding door out onto the deck she saw it was open and a cold breeze was squeezing through. The key was in the lock, it had been opened from the inside and whoever it was didn’t shut it on the way out. Lucy had a hunch she knew the culprit. Walking over the deck, down the short steps and onto the sand, she slowly approached the figure layed on his back in a star shape. He heard her coming and lifted his head to see but didn’t move until she was right above him. He could tell she wanted to smile but something was holding her back. Was she worried? About him? He sat up and she crouched down, holding both her arms that were covered in goose bumps.  
“Found you.” She cooed, tired. Natsu gave a raspy hum in acknowledgement. He was resting all his weight on his arms, so his collar bones were jutting out. Lucy unfurled one arm and hooked her fingers over his left one, before leaning forward onto him sending them both back down onto the ground. Her abdomen on his abdomen. Her arms folded across his chest, her legs resting on the sand. She leant her chin over her forearms and asked him a silent question. ‘What are you doing out here? Tell me.’ Her expression coaxed. He looked up at her gently, he was tired. Usually his eyes constantly contained vivid emotion, joy, anger, intensity. Now they were completely calm. It was a rare sight for most, but not for Lucy. Nobody can be a ball of blazing energy all the time, and he chose when he’s around her to be the time he allows himself to relax. To not have his fingers twitch or toes curl with a need to jump around and yell like a maniac. To just be still. He brought a hand up into her hair and placed it over the knots that were just beginning to form on the back of her head. She had already been asleep.  
“Couldn’t sleep.” He answered.  
“And instead of a lullaby or chamomile you decided to bust outside and lay in the cold?” She chuckled quietly. It was a rhetorical question.  
“Those don’t work on me, you know that Luce.” He answered regardless.  
Lucy scrunched her face a little, she was thinking.  
“Whelp.” She concluded, “Let’s go swimming. C’mon.” She tapped his chest with her open hand then stood up. He was confused.  
“It’s like… four in the morning.” He wearily protested.  
“Do you have a better idea?” She challenged. Before he could speak she stripped her top off, causing him to choke on his own breath. “Relax, my bikini’s underneath.”

She had worn her bikini instead of underwear to the arrival in hopes she would get an hour or two at the beach. However a slight train delay combined with the longer than expected wait to be signed in ruined those chances. They were late getting in because a full eight members of Jenevos Guard were missing. They were supposed to take a cart that got shut down cause of the heat, so they had to walk. Funnily enough the loud bastard Natsu turned into human putty was the only member of Jenevos Guard to actually be on time. He was being an asshole in hopes of distracting from the fact that his guilds poor planning was the only reason seventy odd wizards weren’t doing their desired holiday activity by now.

Undeterred by her teammates silence she pulled her shorts down revealing the rest of her bikini and piled her stripped clothes in a way she hoped would mean she could find them again after frolicking in the ocean. Meanwhile Natsu was thinking very hard.  
“I’m not wearing my swim trunks.” He concluded. Still laying flat on the sand.  
“Well just go in your undies. Swimsuits cling to everything once they’re wet anyway so it’s not that big of a difference.” She waved off his complaint. He felt himself go a little red. Standing up and repressing the heat in his face he took his trousers off and unceremoniously dumped them on the pile. She gently laced her fingers around his arm and started leading him to the ocean. During the day it would be a refreshing kind of cold but Natsu knew at this time of night it would be freezing. He could practically see ten minutes from now having to princess carry Lucy back into the hotel as she bitterly complained that she couldn’t feel her toes. As if this wasn’t all her idea in the first place. Maybe she’d cling to him like some kind of personal heater, though that wouldn’t be that bad now that he thought about it. Maybe he could spin this to his advantage and find a way to sleep in her room…

A tiny shriek brought him back down to reality. It was Lucy, the second her feet touched the water she recoiled in shock. As predicted, it was numbingly cold. Normally she was on the ball with thinking logically but alas, t’was four in the morning. However, not wanting the embarrassment he went through a minute earlier to go to waste, Natsu promptly picked her up, and chucked her into the sea. He made sure she landed on her back of course, he wasn’t a complete monster. The water she landed in was enough to break her fall but still shallow enough that she could sit with her head above water and gape at him in pure shock. Half from his actions and half from feeling like her skin and flesh just froze into a human popsicle. Her hair was soaked and all over the place, the phrase ‘drowned rat’ came to mind. But it was quickly dismissed as she stood up to reveal her bikini stuck to her skin, she used her open palms to scrape the long hair from her face and gather it behind her, before gasping for air then laughing a little. Yup, definitely not a rat. More like a mermaid. Or an angel depending how close he looked. She probably had wings if he squinted hard enough. Well shit, that backfired.

A wave hit the back of her legs lurching her forward a little, she just rolled with the momentum and began running straight back towards him.

Natsu:

Before he knew what was happening he had been dragged into the ocean by a laughing blonde. Is this what sailors that die via sirens feel like? Surely it’s gotta be somewhat close. They were both in chest deep water splashing each other and laughing like idiots. Natsu’s hair was now just as soaked as Lucy’s as she had managed to push him under a few times. Of course he always returned the favour. She had tried to swim away twice to start a game of chase but Natsu always grabbed something and pulled her straight back, only causing them to laugh more. Any time the fun would start to peter out with Lucy just back floating or Natsu trying to drag her back to shore, something would spark them back up again. But eventually both their energies ran flat. Lucy swam up to Natsu and rested her head on his chest. Their own thoughts had been so loud before but now all that was left were the waves rolling behind them. It was so peaceful. They both naturally fell into a hug. Natsu looked up at the sky, the moon had noticeably moved since he last checked the time. Just how long had they been out here? Thinking about that made him more aware of his own body. His skin was cold. He hadn’t been making an effort to keep himself warm, but he was still naturally more resilient than your average person. So if he was feeling chilly then Lucy must be completely frozen. He held her tighter and the skin he could feel was alarmingly cold. The thought of her being dead ripped over his mind like a reopened wound, but he quickly shook it off. He could hear her heartbeat. She was fine. They did need to go inside though.

He put his arms under hers and began to pull her back to shore. Once the ocean left their legs he put one arm under her butt and left her to keep hold around his neck. It was the exact same way a parent would carry a sleeping child. He’d need a hand free to navigate the hotel and Lucy was too tired to care. He’d made his way halfway up the beach when a thought crossed Lucy’s mind.  
“Clothes.” She muttered a sleepy reminder. Natsu stopped, turned around, picked their clothes up that were now full of sand, then continued back towards the hotel. Thankfully, nobody had found the open door so they both slipped back in undetected. Natsu had enough presence of mind to close and lock the door, but he couldn’t for the life of him remember which hook he found the key on, so he just left it in the lock. Anyone who would rob this place would have to be out of their damn minds anyway, what with there being a small army of wizards residing here. On the path back to their room you could see both the pool and bar. The people that were having a late night, or was it early morning?, swim when Lucy and Natsu left were now gone. To Natsu it was apparent they had been drinking, one of them even left their towel slung over the back of a white deck chair. It was bright green. Natsu contemplated taking a tiny detour to snatch it up and use it to dry Lucy’s hair, but then he remembered there were so many towels in their apartment it was beyond overkill. Wait, weren’t the idiots gossiping in the lobby stood on a green spot? Never mind, he had other things to think about right now. Getting deeper into the building there was an archway, and from that archway separated two corridors going in opposite directions. On the leftmost wall of the left corridor and the rightmost wall of the right corridor were sets of stairs. The left stairs were green, the right stairs were black. Going to the side of the stairs the corridors continued, with the right one being carpeted in white and the left in pink. These led to the four rooms on the left side of the hotel. And just in case you were too stupid to connect the dots that your dorm and the colour you signed in on match, and that the colours on the floor lead you exactly where you need to go, there were labelled arrows on the walls that pointed the way. These arrows even had the name of the guild staying there on a removable tab that got replaced each time the guests changed over. Natsu couldn’t help but read the names on the signs. He also kinda wanted to know what idiots were partying and/or swimming at four in the flipping morning. The white arrow had ‘Hollow Hound’ on it. He wasn’t interested in them. They went to bed on time and hadn’t made a peep since. The black one had ‘Jenevos Guard’. Oh great, them. So not only were they late but they also stayed up late drinking themselves silly.  
“Marien Nine.” A quiet voice came from the woman in his arms. “Those were the people talking about my book.”  
Natsu peered at the green arrow that Lucy had read. So she was curious too.  
“And the Grand Magic Games.” Natsu added, beginning to walk again.

Lucy:

She wanted to fall asleep, she wanted to just let go and doze off in Natsu’s arms, but she resisted. She knew he would put her down soon. The logical part of her brain was also screaming about cleaning off and putting clothes on. She could already feel her arms sticking to Natsu’s neck and back as the salt water dried. Then there was the hand on her arse. Which she strategically decided to ignore for the sake of not exploding in shame. She was suddenly overjoyed that Happy wasn’t here, remembering his infuriating habit of cooing “They looooove each other~” Whenever they got even remotely close. It got even more annoying when Virgo picked up the phrase and began using it whenever she showed up unannounced. The thought of being double teamed by their irritating accusations sent a shiver down her spine. Feeling that shiver Natsu started walking a bit faster. Oh yeah, she was frigid inside and out, she almost forgot about that. She opened her eyes and watched the corridor retreat further and further back as she was carted along. The lighting was different than last time. Before it was almost blinding but now it dimmed in time with the setting sun. She also noticed that the lighting corresponded with their set colour, meaning the lights brushing over her bare skin were tinted pink. It made for a very calm and intimate atmosphere. But it was also… slightly… sultry? She wasn’t sure the staff had thought this through. But then again they weren’t expecting two people who were mostly naked while squished tightly against one another to be walking down here at… wait, what time was it? Stupid o’clock in the morning. Lucy’s brain proceeded to betray her by cycling through about every dirty word she’d learned from reading Levy’s more racy books. She’d gotten rid of them all when she got pregnant with the twins and revealed her and Gajeel’s relationship to the guild. Both Lucy and Erza took some and the rest were *cough* *cough* disposed of… Suddenly her guts felt very warm, from embarrassment or, something else. She just buried her head further into Natsu’s neck and clenched her eyes shut.

The sound of a door being clicked open brought her relief from her own rambling conscience. The hand holding her up slowly began to loosen, she took the hint and unhooked her legs from his waist, placing them squarely back on the ground. He had been carrying her like that since they left the ocean, so there were still small drips and pockets of water trapped between their bodies. Her moving caused the now lukewarm saltwater to slowly start running down their skins and onto the floor. In comparison to the clean and cosy scent of their set the pair smelled like brine and beach. It was even apparent to Lucy’s human nose. They were both silent for a few seconds, not knowing what to say. The only sound being tiny rivulets of water landing by their feet. Ok, think, what needs to be done next? Of course, shower. Just walk into the bathroom and take a shower and go to bed. Easy.

But…

Something was changing. It had been for a while. The energy she felt when she was around him was shifting. Morphing. Turning into something new. Not a bad new, a good new, an exciting new, an intimidating and frightening new. He was her best friend. The best friend she’d ever had. She didn’t think that feeling could grow anymore, that 100% bond could go any higher, but it could, and it was. He could feel it too, she knew he could. Right now the feeling between them was growing. She felt like she was tied to him. Like there was a rope around her waist pulling her towards him. She could feel her heart in her chest. He could probably hear it. This energy, this feeling, should she let it change? Or force it to stay the same. Sever the rope or take the leap into the unknown. She had no clue what this feeling was building to. But, it couldn’t possibly be bad right? She didn’t know much, or anything at all, but she trusted him. With her life. So walking away from this… thing. Whatever was changing. Ignoring it or cutting that rope was not an option.

This energy would swallow her whole. And she would let it.

With that mini revelation under her belt, she now knew that being away from him right now would be bad. The feeling was building. Let it build.

Lucy stood staring at the floor. Natsu briefly wondered if she had somehow fallen asleep standing up. But any theories ground to a standstill when she fell towards him and wrapped her arms around his stomach. Any cognisant thought immediately fizzled out into confused and slightly fuzzy bubbles.  
“You said you couldn’t sleep right?” She asked, her voice muffled as her face was jammed into the pronounced crevice down the middle of his chest. He could feel her jaw moving. His brain somehow got even emptier, before he practically shook himself to answer her question.  
“Yeah?”  
“Well you usually sleep with me back home. We could try and figure out how the double bed works, if you want?” As she talked she slowly squeezed tighter and tighter. A lot of heat rose to his cheeks. They were likely bright red, thank Mavis it was dark. Why was he blushing so much? She was right, they do this all the time. Why is it different now?  
“Yeah, sure.” He agreed, it came out far meeker than he intended. She sighed gently. It sounded like a sigh of relief.  
“Well we can’t sleep like this.” She tilted her head up to look him in the eye. “Let’s get cleaned up. We can just leave our clothes in the bath.”  
She grabbed his hand that was holding all their clothes and lead him into a bathroom. She flicked on the light then remembered that it would switch back off every three minutes. Well that’s irritating. Guess they’d better be quick then.  
“Run some water into the bath, leave the clothes in there. I’ll go get us something to sleep in.” She quietly spoke, not wanting to wake their friends.  
“Mhm, sure.” Natsu replied, still sounding a little vacant.

Lucy strolled out of the bathroom and stood still once the door closed. Her heart was going crazy in her chest but she swallowed thickly and ignored it. Dipping into her room and turning on the light she hastily rifled through her bag that had been slung onto the spare bed hours before. She pulled out a long, loose, summer dress that was usually meant to go over a swimsuit or just to lounge in, it had a loose neck and no tough seems so she figured it would be ok to sleep in. She dipped into her closet and grabbed a handful of towels, then went back out the door. Nipping over to Natsu’s room she encountered a problem. Natsu had very few clothes to start out with, but he had even less when on holiday. After all the only bag he brought was a satchel that was originally intended for books or folders. It was thin, and heavy. Waterproof. With a buckle, one shoulder strap and that was it. Where did he even get this? Lucy resolved to get him a backpack when they got home. He’d burned his last one though, maybe ask the staff how they fireproofed the cushions? Inside were six pairs of spare underwear scrunched up in a ball, one white t-shirt with a hole in it, his swim trunks, a thick leather bracelet that had clearly not been worn in months as it was bent to the shape of the bag, a wooden beaded necklace that she could vaguely remember buying for him, and… a book? She made a mental note to ask him about it later, grabbed the trunks and shirt and went back to the bathroom. By now the light had already switched itself off once. As she entered Natsu was just walking away from the switch after turning it back on. Looking over at the bath it was half full and all their clothes were floating on the surface, sand slowly sinking to the bottom. She shuffled through the large amount of fabric in her hands, trying hard not to drop anything. Pulling out his clothes she chucked them over to him. Then she grabbed hold of one of the towels and tossed it in the direction of one of the showers. The showers weren’t full cubicles. There were two sections of tiled wall that jutted out and there was a shower head high up on the further side of each one. They were pretty much open air, but you couldn’t see the person inside from the door, bath, toilet, or other shower. So they were cleverly placed.  
“You go first. I’ll keep the light on.” She offered.  
“I don’t take as long as you do to shower Luce.” He poked at her. She enjoyed her boiling hot showers that often stretched to forty-five minutes in length thank you very much. Her water and heating bill suffered greatly for it but whatever. She had powerful teammates to go on jobs with, so she’d never be completely broke. And since Natsu practically lived there now he would help with the rent. Well, he helped with the rent even before that. But that was his choice, so it’s fine. She simply pouted at his joking provocation. This was more familiar, but the feeling was still growing. If anything it was growing faster. Just what was this change gonna lead to?

As he walked into the shower she turned around to give him privacy. A thought ran over her that she might need to remind him that the clothes they went into the ocean with needed to be washed too. Meaning they’d need to be removed. Just as she was about to open her mouth the faint sound of wet fabric being peeled off skin came from behind her. As well as the wet ‘slap’ of the soaked garment being dropped onto the tiled floor. The water turned on just seconds after that and she was glad, it was a distraction from her heart making an absolute racket from inside her ribcage. Ok, he could definitely hear it at this point, there was no way he couldn’t. She was stood in a rather small bikini, at night, alone, with a naked dude not five feet behind her. If her ten-year-old self could see her now she would shriek in dignified horror. Hell if her seventeen-year-old self that had just joined the guild could see her she would scream like a banshee and melt into a puddle on the floor. But this didn’t feel wrong. Just a little… unfamiliar. Before the light had even turned itself off again she heard footsteps move behind her, the discarded underwear was picked up and thrown, landing in the bath with a loud splash. The towel was picked up too, she could hear it ruffle as it was used to dry pink hair and tan skin. Her brain began conjuring images of what was going on behind her and she instantly shut them down by counting the stitches on the hem of the dress in her hands.  
“Why’d you bring my trunks in?” He asked, presumably now getting dressed. Just then the light flickered off. Lucy immediately flicked it back on. She had parked herself in front of the switch for this exact reason.  
“Well I figured you usually sleep in more than just your underwear.” His usual sleeping attire was his pair of baggy white trousers with his scarf around his waist.  
“This’ll dig in while I sleep though.” He groaned.  
“I’ve seen you doze off in an entire suit with a belt before.” She shut down his complaint. He just grumbled quietly and started putting it on. She decided she needed to buy him more clothes too. They just needed to go on a full shopping trip, and since it was summer they’d be stocking the kind of clothes he wares. To his credit he could actually wear the same clothes for months on end because for whatever reason the man didn’t sweat. At all. Weather his pores had been seared closed or he was just born that way, he had no BO. So his clothes only got dirty if they had actual dirt on them. She figured it was an evolutionary thing, like there was no way he was ever going to overheat so there was no point in him being able to sweat. Or maybe it was a dragon thing? Or and E.N.D specific thing? If he had kids would they not sweat either?  
“Yoo hoo.” He startled her and she turned around. “Your turn.” He pointed to the shower that he had left on. She could now see why the shirt had a hole in it, it was too tight around his chest. She could see outlines that she shouldn’t be able to see. The hole was a ripped seem down the right side of his chest. And by the looks of it, it would get bigger if he moved his arms too far up. Her head was on fire, so she just power walked over to the shower, dropping the contents of her arms along the way. Natsu took her place facing away from the showers and looking at the light switch. He had to flick it back on three times before she rotated the handle to turn the shower off. She hadn’t removed her bikini the whole time, just shifted it around in an attempt to remove all the sand and wash away all the seawater. She also had to sort her hair. Thankfully, she had dragged him into the ‘girls’ bathroom, so the shampoo and conditioner she unloaded onto the metal mesh shelf fused with the wall when they arrived the previous day were there. She didn’t get to brush her hair, but she resolved to do that when they got back to her room. Stepping out she dried herself the best she could with her bikini still on. She knew there would be some wet spots, but she was a little too shy to be completely naked right now. Natsu was a joker so he might just turn around with his hand still over his eyes to freak her out, or maybe he would turn around by mistake. Or maybe he would hear something and turn around to look. Basically her brain was running wild. Once she slipped the dress over her body she quickly removed the bikini. Taking a bra off with shirt still on was a skill practically all women possessed. It worked for this too. Now comfortably free she threw her bikini at the bathtub, the bottom went in, the top hit the wall then slid in. Oops, her hand eye co-ordination wasn’t the greatest when she was tired. Taking her long hair in hand she gave it one last wring out then wiped her hands on the towel.  
“Done.” She said.  
Natsu obediently turned back around, he looked relieved. Maybe because he could move now. Or maybe because he could finally go to bed. He could stay up for days during their long, tumultuous battles but that was when he was running on dirty water, a little wild prey, and heaps of adrenaline. Now he was running on nothing but yesterday’s breakfast and traces of serotonin. He looked so worn out, it was endearing. Lucy felt it sway something inside her. It made her want to give him a hug, so she did. She looped her arms around him and placed her head sideways on his chest. She could hear his heart. His arms fell over her shoulders and he rested the side of his head in the back of hers. She felt a strap of her dress fall loose but didn’t mind it.  
“Bedtime.” She weakly reminded him as much as herself.  
“Yeah.” He agreed. “Bedtime.”

They reluctantly broke the hug and made their way into Lucy’s room. Flicking the light on Lucy took the bag from the spare bed and dumped it on the floor. She then noticed Natsu staring out the window. She redirected her gaze to see what he was looking at then froze. The sky was lightening. The stars were fading. There was the slightest line of orange over the horizon. It was almost dawn. They hadn’t spent that long in the bathroom, so they had been in the ocean for almost two hours!? Erza woke up at 6:30 sharp so she’d be up in half an hour. Natsu and Lucy turned to one another in surprise. Once all the others woke up then staying asleep would be tricky. Especially if they make a big deal out of them being in the same bed. But they definitely needed to sleep as there were vicious bags under both their eyes and Natsu looked like he was about to topple over. Wait… the others would see both their clothes in the bath too! And Gajeel would probably be able to smell shampoo and sea water. And the shower won’t have dried. Oh my.

Thinking quickly Lucy dipped over to her luggage and pulled out a pad of paper. She took it with her places as she occasionally got the urge to write, even though she never intended to publish anything ever again. She got out her pencil and scribbled:

“Please don’t wake us up, stuff happened. We’re tired. Ask questions later.  
\- Lucy & Natsu.”

She scurried out and looked around for a place to put it, before just placing it on the floor in front of their door and nipping back inside. While she was doing that Natsu had pulled up the removable floorboards and was staring intently at the runners. Lucy went over to one bed and began to push, Natsu got the idea and grabbed the other with one arm and effortlessly pulled it into the middle. Before doing the same to the one Lucy was trying to move, the sudden lurch almost made her loose her footing. If she’d fallen onto those runners that could have hurt. The beds clicked together. Natsu was now trying to figure out how to put the floor back. Lucy scrambled over to him and directed his hands to the right place. The removable floorboards were actually all separate, held together with magnets. You could separate each board individually. Natsu quickly cleaved the boards in half, Lucy took one side and put it in the new gap. The bed wasn’t quite centred so there was plenty of room to slot hers back into place. The bed rolled towards her a little when Natsu did the same from the other side. The end result was rather satisfying. A double bed. The floor looked a little odd but oh well.

After that little mad rush was over they both hopped into bed. From her side Lucy kneeled up and closed the curtains, before settling back down. Neither of them had thought to get the double blanket out of the closet, but there were already sheets and pillows on both beds so they would both be fine. After laying down the tiredness hit Lucy like a pile of bricks. Natsu’s eyes were already closed. He had a tiny involuntary smile on his face. That made her smile too. Then everything slipped away into calming sleep, with her most important person in the whole world asleep next to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would write smut into this story however, I am ace, hence am not having the adult fun times. So it would be shit. Ya ik an ace person who writes only romance, stupid right? I am filthy minded tho, so the child making activity may be referenced, but not outright written :P


	3. Four Sizes Too Small

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you don’t say it, it’s not true.  
> “I…”  
> Don’t say it.  
> “.. Love…”  
> Please! Don’t.  
> “Her?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wingwoman Erza is best Erza.

Lucy:

Lucy dragged a hand down her face in an attempt to wake herself up. The bed was really warm, she didn’t want to get up. She did need to go to the bathroom and get dressed. But like a toddler on their way to the dentist she dragged her heels and tried every trick in the book to convince herself to just stay in bed. She wasn’t sure what the time was, it was light outside though, bright sunshine. The small rays slipping through the curtains made her flinch if she looked into them. Last nights events were still dancing around in her memory, they would be hard to forget, especially since the man she shared them with was snoring next to her, spread out like a starfish. The reason she didn’t want to get out of bed? Apart from being exceptionally comfortable, all her friends were awake. She could hear them in the lounge. Pacing, chatter, pouring of cereal, opening and closing of doors. They were awake alright. They had followed her hastily scribbled order of not waking her and Natsu up, she had awoken of her own accord, but she suspected they would also follow the last bit. “Ask questions later.” Oh boy, the moment she stepped out of that door she’d be interrogated, and she knew it. Whelp, no point prolonging your agony, the voice in her head lectured, get dressed and get this over with.

After brushing her hair, pulling on a black crop top with rainbow beads on the straps, a pair of high-waisted pale-yellow shorts that came almost all the way up to her ribs, a sheer cardigan with flowers embroidered on the cuffs of the long sleeves and finally a pair of white and pink flipflops; she took a deep breath and opened her door. Looking out into the lounge she saw exactly what she expected to see. Gray was sat at the bar chomping cereal and had turned to look at her, Juvia was next to him holding a cup of water with ice floating in the top, she also gazed at Lucy with a slight smile on her face. Levy was sat on the sofa facing Lucy’s room, she was sat on her hands and was almost vibrating with excitement. The fangirl bookworm in that woman will never die. Lastly Erza was sat on the middle sofa, she looked deep in thought, like she was calculating how much a wedding, honeymoon and set of baby essentials would cost.  
“Whatever you’re all thinking… I can guarantee what actually happened was ten times less exciting.” She sighed, trying to deflect as best she could.  
“Oh? Was Salamander not good in bed?” Gray quickly quipped, clearly containing his laughter. Lucy went red from ear to ear, their ideas were worse than she’d thought.  
“Please stop implying whatever you’re implying. There was nothing but sleeping happening in this room. Nothing.” She was already losing her composure, it really wasn’t helping her case.  
“What about in the bathroom then?” Juvia coyly followed. She was enjoying this way too much.  
“Nothing in there either. Just cleaning. Cleaning.” Lucy tried to convey.  
“Did you clean each other or-?” Gray continued.  
“Only one shower was used, don’t deny it!” Levy added in. Lucy clasped both hands over her face and took a deep breath.  
“Argh! We took turns! Nothing happened!” She insisted.  
“Lucy! His underwear, trousers and scarf are in the bath and his top is in his room. SO, what is he wearing now? Hmmmmm?” Levy pressed further. “And we know he’s in there! We can hear him snoring.” You could practically read the word ‘checkmate’ running over Levy’s mind. She was very confident she was right. Confidently incorrect.  
“No! We are not romantically involved! Not at all! You are way off.” Arguing back with points that made sense was difficult when your brain was frying itself.  
“Then are you not a couple?” Erza interjected. Thank the gods, someone was actually listenin- “Does that mean you are being intimate without being committed to one another? Lucy I did not take you for that kind of person.” At that Lucy practically felt a vein pop in her head.

WHY?! Does no one have EARS IN HERE?! NO!? LISTEN TO ME!

Striding forward she yanked a pink cushion from the unused sofa in front of her and held it high in the air.  
“Anybody without the speaking cushion has to shut the hell up!” She bellowed as loud as she could manage. Clearly she did well as everyone’s eyes widened and their smiles were wiped clean off their faces. Despite her temper she barely ever used ‘barbaric’ language. So when she did it took people by surprise.  
“Wh-“ Gray started. He quickly cut off his protest as Lucy snapped her neck ninety degrees to glare at him with a look that screamed ‘I will eat your damn cereal then shove that spoon down your throat’. It worked.  
“Me. And Natsu. Are not romantically involved. There is no kissing. There is no hand holding. And the is NO intercourse of ANY KIND in ANY LOCATION at all, ever. Am I making myself clear?” She hissed. Everyone nodded. Lucy took a deep breath and slammed both hands onto the back of the sofa in front of her, the cushion still gripped in her palm. Forget being fireproof, it might tear from her well-manicured fingernails digging in like razors.  
“I am sorry for yelling. But I hate it when people assume things about me. I know you were just having fun but that was a little too far. I would appreciate it if you refrained from teasing me in such a way in future.” She slowly seemed to calm down as she progressed through the speech. “Now, would anyone like the speaking cushion?”  
Gray and Juvia eyed one another like children that just got busted by a teacher. Erza looked zoned out and blank, she wasn’t used to people reaching her level of intensity like that. Levy seemed to have gotten over the yelling rather quickly, though by her expression Lucy could tell that she hadn’t entirely been teasing, and that she actually thought something had happened. Lucy felt bad now, Levy was just trying to be a supportive friend. I mean she was doing it wrong, and she had assumed, but the evidence was pretty darn strong and she and Natsu were mistaken for a couple almost every time they were in a shop or speaking to a client. I guess they just had that vibe now… So with the evidence her friends were presented with it wasn’t that illogical to get to the conclusion that they’d hooked up. She was mentally slapping herself now, because if she were in their position she’d have assumed the same thing. And she went and yelled at them.

Before figuring out a more sincere way to apologise she heard footsteps behind her. Natsu was up. He stood in the doorway and looked left, then right, then at Lucy, everyone was staring at him.  
“Wha’d I miss?” He asked, groggy. He definitely hadn’t slept enough. Lucy’s yelling woke him up. His hair was spiky normally, but now he had wicked bedhead. He’d been asleep on his back so there was a small explosion of pink hair framing his head like a halo. Lucy’s eyes immediately fell down to his chest as something was different than before. She remembered thinking that if he moved too much the hole in the shirt would split further. She was correct. The seam had split all the way up to his armpit, and all the way down to his naval. It wasn’t much of a shirt anymore. More like a drape. And since it was tight to begin with the fabric had receded over his skin, exposing half his abdomen in a semi-circle that looked almost artistic. It perfectly framed the cross scar that was cut into his front years before. Gray narrowed his eyes.  
“Didn’t you buy that shirt when we were like… thirteen?” He asked. Natsu looked down, then noticed the gaping hole in his clothing.  
“Mmmmm, don’t remember.” He dismissed.  
“That’s not the point! He didn’t put it on like that did he?” Gray turned to Lucy.  
“No… there was only a small hole before…” Lucy answered him before walking around Natsu to look at the back. It showed less skin back there but was still bad. Then she grabbed the back of the neck and pulled it down towards her.  
“Any bets on what size this shirt is?” She called out.  
“OO! Ten!” Levy yelled.  
“Twelve.” Juvia replied.  
“Ten.” Gray answered, overlapping with Juvia.  
“Erza? Your guess?” Lucy asked like she was commentating a game show.  
“Hmmm… fifteen.” She sternly replied.  
“But that’s the size he wears now…” Levy quietly commentated.  
“NEVERMIND!” Lucy washed it over. She was glad to have a distraction from the mood she created earlier. She pulled the back of the neck down further causing Natsu to make a small choking sound as his airway was all but cut off. Lucy dove a hand in and grabbed the tag, pulling it out she squinted to read the tiny number that was almost worn away.  
“And the winners are…. NOBODY! It’s a size eleven.” She said with unnecessary drama before letting the neck go. Natsu gasped and rubbed his throat.  
“Dude… you’re twenty-six.” Gray commented.  
“Yeah, well at least I actually own a shirt!” Natsu retaliated.  
“I am literally wearing a shirt right now!” Gray pointed to the loose button up shirt that was half done up, exposing his chest.  
“Wear it properly then!” Natsu mocked, miming doing up buttons.  
“BOYS.” Erza asserted. They both flinched slightly then shut up.  
“Natsu, do you have anything other than what’s in that leather bag?” Lucy asked.  
“Nope. That’s all I brought. I wasn’t counting on my trousers getting dirty.” He smiled at her. Lucy sighed.  
“I was planning to take you shopping when we got home but looks like we’ll have to do it now. Unless you wanna wear your swim trunks all day.” She rested a hand on the small of his back.  
“I can just dry my clothes, it’ll be fine.” He reddened a tad.  
“No, you’ll burn a hole through them. It’d work on your scarf but nothing else. You need new clothes anyway.” She insisted.  
“Lucy’s right.” Erza interjected. “Gray, give him a shirt to go with his trunks so they can go shopping.” Her smile was a little devious.  
“Ew no I don’t wanna wear stuff that stinks of him.” Natsu protested.  
“I don’t stink!” Gray yelled at him. Juvia looped a hand around his arm in a vain attempt to stop the impending bickering.  
Lucy bit her lip and thought hard. She had packed in a hurry, as after being told Levy had selected her to come on holiday with her, she sprinted home and jammed everything she possibly could in her bag.  
“Hang on.” She said, remembering something. She made it halfway through the door to her room before coming back out, grabbing a handful of whatever was left of Natsu’s shirt, and dragging him in with her. Kneeling down in front of her bag she rifled through the various garments inside until her hand ran across something smooth. She gently pulled the item out from under everything else, as if it would tear if she applied too much tension. It was a sheer cardigan, very similar to the one she wore. In fact it was made by the same people. A very sweet couple that lived on the outskirts of the next town over, the man wove and dyed the delicate fabric, sewing it into clothes. The woman would use thread and embroider gorgeous designs onto the mesh. Mainly flowers. This is how they made their living. Lucy had gone in to buy something after a job paid particularly well and ended up with the one she wore now. However, recognising her guild mark and hearing the stories of how Fairy Tail help people, the couple insisted on gifting her a spare. It had a few stitching errors, and fixing those errors meant it ended up rather large. The blue dye used to give the mesh colour had also been too concentrated, meaning it was opaquer that it should have been. The embroidery was still stunning, however, to match the intense blue the woman had used much brighter colours, making the garment very bold. This combination meant nobody had bought it. There were large, almost sharp looking daisies climbing from the cuffs, transitioning to smaller buttercups and dandelions up the outer arm, ending in just petals by the time it reached the shoulders. A similar thing happened with the torso and back, starting in daisies at the base, to buttercups to dandelions to petals once at the chest. The flowers were not in their traditional colours either, the daisies were pink and red, the buttercups were orange with hints of yellow, and the dandelions were almost white with green at the tips. The petals were just a light blue. Any normal person would be swallowed by it, it would take someone just as intense as the garment itself to pull it off. Luckily, she knew just the guy.

Turning around she presented it to him,  
“Ta-da! Problem solved.” She grinned.  
He looked at it for a few seconds before smiling. He looked good in flowers, Lucy had told him so. He put his hands on his sides in an attempt to grab the shirt he was wearing to pull it off, but he couldn’t seem to grasp enough fabric anywhere. After a few seconds of trying he just gave up and grabbed the neck and pulled, ripping it. He did the same with what was left of the body. The white fabric, reduced to scraps, fell rather pathetically to the floor. The tiny pile it made looked so small in comparison to what it was expected to cover. After all it was designed for a child, not a strong young man. Why he even brought it with him, Lucy had no idea. Taking the cardigan from her he slipped it on. It was a tad tight around his shoulders, but it wouldn’t rip. It ended perfectly right at the bottom of his torso.  
“We match.” He chuckled.  
“So we do.” She replied with equal glee. “Dry your scarf, I’ll brush your hair then we can go get some clothes.”  
“Nuh uh, I wanna eat first.” He patted his stomach.  
Oh yeah, he hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning, had he? Lucy had forgotten that her stomach was empty too.  
“We’ll stop by the buffet on the way out.” She added, pulling a smaller canvas bag and some money out of her main bag then zipping it closed. She turned to look at Natsu who was sniffing the air.  
“Luce, your breath stinks.” He wafted a hand in front of his face. She thought for a few seconds.  
“Oh! I forgot to brush my teeth.” She remembered, putting a hand over her mouth. Standing up she made her way to the door, “You need to brush yours too!” She reminded him before exiting to make her way to the bathroom.  
Suddenly, Natsu felt all warm and fuzzy inside. It reminded him of all the days he’d wake up in her apartment. If they had a job that day, they’d help get each other ready like this. He’d brush her hair, she’d brush his. They’d coordinate showers, he’d help her cook. Though she was much better than he was. Sometimes there was a mad dash to get ready in time in fear of Erza’s wrath if they were late to the train station. Though they’d usually end up laughing like children over something or other while scrambling out the door. Before he met Lucy, a house was just a place to sleep, keep junk, and do stuff that he couldn’t do with other people around. Like find out what happens if you crush a pumpkin then mix it with alcohol then light it on fire. But her home felt… nice? Cosy. Safe. Maybe he now knew the meaning of the word domestic. The thought of actually living with her sent prickles over his skin and made his face uncomfortably warm. Was he getting sick or something?

After a few minutes of shuffling back and fourth both Natsu and Lucy left the set. They were both way too happy for just clothes shopping. Gray and Juvia stared at the door as it silently slid closed.  
“It’s like they forgot we were here.” She said to her significant other, taking a sip out of the water he had cooled for her.  
A few beats of silence followed.  
“If they don’t date before they keel over of old age I’ll eat my own foot.” Gray stated.  
Levy nodded. “Can we also agree to intervene if they reach the age of thirty and are still chasing each other in circles?” She added.  
“Agreed.” Gray responded.  
“You don’t really think it would take that long for them to become a couple do you?” Erza enquired, sounding a little concerned. She had made it clear that she wanted more nieces and nephews sooner rather than later.  
“Well it’ll depend on who takes the initiative.” Levy pointed out.  
“Natsu has the emotional maturity of a five-year-old. If the initiative is left with him they’ll be in their fifties before he even realises the funny tingles he feels are love. Knowing him he probably thinks he has a cold or something.” Gray drawled. These two were wearing his patience thin with their obliviousness. Now he knew how everyone else felt in the last couple years before he and Juvia began to date. He’d been denying her for so long he didn’t actually realise when he started to love her. That gave him a thought. “They’ve been friends for so long. Must be one of those situations where they’ve both been falling so slowly that neither has noticed.”  
“Meaning they’re both so deep in the friend zone they’re basically married.” Juvia finished her lovers sentence.  
“Mhmm.” Levy concurred. “Anyway!” She continued, perking up. “What are we gonna do today?”

Unbeknownst to them all, Natsu, who had returned for his scarf that had been forgotten in the girls bathroom, was stood still outside the door with wide eyes and a dry throat. Lucy had gone ahead without him, because he said he’d catch up. The soundproofing of the sets was impressive. But not dragon slayer impressive. He could feel every single hair on his body stand on end. Like a thousand feathers were running over his skin. He had to remind himself to breathe. Like he’d had the wind knocked out of him by an enemy he couldn’t see. He could feel the words wanting to bubble up his neck and spill out of his mouth. His eyes stung. His heart was beating against his ribcage. It almost hurt.

If you don’t say it, it’s not true.  
“I…”  
Don’t say it.  
“.. Love…”  
Please! Don’t.  
“Her?”  
..  
….  
.  
.  
He felt his knees go weak. They buckled under him. He knelt on the floor and buried his hands in his hair. The hair that she had brushed. Why did it feel like he was being suffocated? Why was he scared? Why was his skin on fire? Why did it feel like he could fly, and simultaneously be unable to move a single muscle.

He didn’t even notice the door open. Or his red headed childhood friend step out in a swimsuit and inflatable ring. He slid his hands down to his face and looked up at her. Wide, black eyes peering between the gaps in his fingers.

Erza immediately realised what had happened and closed the door behind her. Kneeling down to his level she gently pried his hands from his face.  
“I…” He tried to stammer. His brain looping incessantly around those three words. It was all he could say.  
“Just breathe.” She reassured. “Calm down a little, tell me what you’re thinking.”  
He took a few deep breaths and let his eyes flutter closed.  
“I love her.” He choked out, “Don’t I?”  
Erza nodded slowly. She could feel his hands go limp and shaky from where she had a loose hold on his wrists.  
“Everyone falls in love eventually. And fate picked quite the woman for you.” She tried to comfort him.  
“Fuck fate.” He growled, his head dropping further.  
“Could you think of any better woman to fall in love with though?” Erza smiled, even though his eyes were sealed shut.  
..  
“No.” He muttered.  
“She’s amazing, right?”  
“Yeah, the best.” His cheeks pooled red.  
“See, so you’ll be fine. Whatever you decide to do.” Erza didn’t comfort people often, but it seemed to be working. It helped that she had a flame of her own.  
Suddenly Natsu seemed to perk up, not with excitement, but anxiety. It was a rare look on him.  
“What is taking him so long?” He heard in the distance, along with the pit pat of flipflops and the occasional swish of a canvas bag. She was coming back for him.  
Erza, once again, figured it out and thought fast.  
“Can you handle being alone with her right now?”  
He quickly shook his head.  
“Alright then.”

Once Lucy rounded the corner to stare down into the corridor she saw two people walking towards her. Well, one person charging ahead and the other being dragged with a strange look on their face.  
“I’m coming with you.” Erza announced, sounding as excited as she could. “I wanted some more clothes anyhow.”  
“Uh…” Lucy looked a mix of puzzled and disappointed. She glanced over at Natsu who was being handled like a wet rag. He gave his best ‘I tried to stop her’ shrug and hoped Lucy wouldn’t think too much into it.  
“But you’re wearing a pool float…” Lucy tried to protest.  
“It’s a fashion statement.” Erza quickly swatted any argument away. There was no stopping Titania. She quickly grabbed Lucy’s wrist with her other hand and almost broke into a run out of the hotel. Today was going to be… interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is taking waaaaay longer than I thought it would ;-; Imma keep going though. It's not like I have anything else to do. Also it's my B-day soon and I can't have a party. Bruh. (Ya ik lockdown is really important don't worry but this is actually the second B-day i've missed cause lockdown was announced literally right on my B-day last year. XP Yay me.) Also we've been in lockdown for a whole year now what the fuuuuuuuuck.
> 
> Also if you're curious where Gichi, Hamito, Lily and Gajeel are: Lily and Gajeel took them down to the pool knowing the conversation that was likely to unfold when Natsu or Lucy woke up. I just didn't find a way to slip their location into the chapter. ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Each separate work in the 'The Guildra Hotel (Natsu X Lucy)' series will tell the story of a different time Fairy Tail returned to the Guildra. Each one may be a one-shot or multiple chapters. The series will end when i'm satisfied. Will Natsu and Lucy bring their kids to the Guildra? Probably. Because i'm weak to giving my ships kids encase you couldn't already tell.


End file.
